Just three days before the Dodgers start play in the World Series against the Yankees on Friday, we found out that one of the most beloved of all Dodgers players, Fernando Valenzuela, passed away at the age of 63.

The recent passing of Vin Scully has resulted in innumerable obituaries, most of which will be far more eloquent than what this one will be. For someone who held the same job for 67 straight years, 59 of them in the same city, you tend to have a well-known reputation.

Coming off a World Series win in 2020, the Los Angeles Dodgers were expected to easily win the National League West Division for the ninth straight time. But, for reasons that confound many baseball experts, the Dodgers’ archnemesis, the San Francisco Giants, stubbornly hold on to first place.

Why am I writing about lasagna? Its origins became a topic for discussion among my brothers and I—and I wanted answers.